1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a method and system for data processing in general, and in particular, to a method and system for parsing frame headers. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system of parsing a frame header for routing data frames within a computer network.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A computer network is a group of computers that are connected by communications facilities for the purpose of providing computer users with an avenue of communicating and transferring information electronically. A computer network can be a local-area network (LAN) consisting of only a few computers within a small area, or it can be a wide-area network (WAN) consisting of many computers distributed over a vast geographical area.
A router (or bridge) is an intermediary device for expediting message delivery within a computer network. Within a LAN, a router receives messages and forwards them to their correct destinations via the most efficiently available route. Within a WAN having several interconnected sets of LANs, a router serves a somewhat different function by acting as a link among these several sets of LANs, enabling messages to be sent from one set of LANs to another.
Various computers within a network computer are coupled to a router through its ports (i.e., locations for passing data in and out of a data-processing device). As a router receives a data frame from one computer intended for another computer(s) within a computer network, the router compares the destination address (address of the receiving computer) provided within the data frame to a stored address/port list. This address/port list indicates which port(s) within the router is associated with the receiving computer(s). The router then directs the data frame to the appropriate port(s) coupled to the receiving computer(s).
Under prior art, an address/port list may be provided to a router beforehand, or the router may develop the address/port list on a dynamic basis. Such address/port lists are stored within the router and are accessed upon the receipt of a data frame. The router then compares the destination address of the data frame to each item within the address/port list until a match is obtained. Generally, each new search through the address/port list begins at the "top" of the address/port list and proceeds sequentially through the destination addresses until a match is found. If there are a very large number of destination addresses in the address/port list, communications within the computer network may be slowed down considerably due to this bottleneck at the router.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for parsing frame headers such that data frames can be routed within a computer network in a more efficient manner.